Life With Tom (1953)

 

This short film marks the third Tom and Jerry cheater cartoon (a short that uses clips from previous cartoons). Clips are used from Cat Fishin' (1947), Kitty Foiled (1948) and The Little Orphan (1948). There would be only one more cheater cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after this, Smarty Cat (1955). After that there wouldn't be another cheater until the Chuck Jones produced, Matinee Mouse (1966).

In this short film, Jerry writes a book called Life With Tom, which tells the stories of all the times he has gotten the better of Tom. When Tom reads this book he gets very angry. This anger only increases when he hears various of his friends and foes laughing themselves silly while reading it. 

This is by far the best cheater Tom and Jerry cartoon. While it does have some of the flaws that are evident in all cheater cartoons, it is still a lot of fun. The clips used here are fantastic. Unlike Smitten Kitten (1952), this film uses the best clips for those cartoons. Frankly they are just as funny here as they were in the context of their original film. The new scenes are also excellent. The wraparound story is really clever and charming. The ending is particular is a wonderful little twist. The character animation on Tom as he gets more and more angry is also wonderful. The wraparound story may be similar to the first Tom and Jerry cheater, Jerry's Diary (1949). However, I feel that this is an even stronger short. This is due to clips that stand on their own quite well and the use of supporting characters. For a cheater, this cartoon is more fun than it should be. 

The credited animators on this short include Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge. It marks the 79th Tom and Jerry short overall. There is a blackface gag in the clip from The Little Orphan. This gag has been cut for TV airings, so you won't see it on Boomerang, Me-TV or ME-TV Toons. An unedited version of this short can be seen on the DVD set, 

By the way Jerry needs a better editor as a typo was left in his published book, a misspelling of "wasn't."